Kathleen wrote this blog over a week ago and we have had quite a bit of snow since she wrote this. See the photo below to view our snow pile on the way out to the barn!Hello from Maybelle Farm on Wednesday Feb 12th, 2014. It was -14 below this morning and I truly thought my nose was going to freeze and fall off when I went to do chores this morning! I am beyond fed up with this awful cold weather. I don't mind winter, snow, etc... but brutally cold weather is just too much. I am very happy that I have 135 bales of 2nd cut hay for my sheep and they are even more happy than I am! It is such a nice feeling to open the upstairs door into the barn and walk in to see and smell wonderful hay. It really makes this old farm girl very happy.

It's that time of year to get the shearer booked for spring before lambing, get bags ready for the fleeces and try to clean out all of last years stash of raw wool. I am going to call a lady in West Dover that opened The Ugly Duckling yarn shop. She is interested in my yarn and selling some of our wool. I will take over some samples, and also see if she might carry our roving, dyed wool and needelfelting kits. It would be great to have a place so close by and also to be able to make some money.

The sheep are very wooly and I have taken some pictures to show some of the Shetland yearling rams and also my two Shetland/Coopworth wethers have incredible fleeces this winter. I hope that Opal, my Borderleicester/Cormo, Snowflake, my Borderleicester/Shetland, Omega, my Tunis cross and Star my charcoal Shetland were all bred by Aries. He was a stunning gray Shetland ram that went to Sheltie Meadow Farm in Ghent, N.Y.

I taught a needlefelting class at the Vermont Artisan Center in Saxton River on Feb.3rd. It was a wonderful class and we had such fun making a person's head. Its really fun to see their face come alive,add on hair,a hat etc.etc. I will teach another class in April. I have to dye more wool,put up bags of roving and organise my studio to see what I need to do next. I love working in my studio,puttering around. Kara who is my daughter's golden retriever comes to the studio with me and we listen to music and just let the world pass us by.........

Well I have to get busy, have to load up out woodbox on the front porch, go pick up grain and get ready for another winter storm coming in tomorrow. They are saying 6-12 inches so I need to have everything ready. It will be fun to have a snow day and then I can make bread and a crock pot of homemade soup. I just love snow days.......its a play day for me!

So-long from Maybelle MaMa

Rowan, Austin, Declan, Kara & Kathleen in front of the snow bank after 20" of new snow!